I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be taking a leave of absence from Yale next semester. Taking a leave is always a big and complicated decision, but it was the right one for me.
The summer after my first year at Yale, I took four courses online (the pandemic was still raging at this point) during Summer Session. This was a great chance to knock out a required credit (Introduction to Psychology) for my major, take the last course Paul Bloom taught at Yale before transitioning to the University of Toronto (Moralities of Everyday Life), and take a few English courses I was excited about (African American Autobiography, Modern American Drama). I wouldn’t recommend doing a four-course summer session to anyone – the workload was a bit intense, especially over Zoom – but I loved the courses I took and spending my summer with friends in New Haven. And I was able to take a semester’s-worth of courses in just ten weeks.
Which worked out well, because I didn’t know what I might want to do with my career at that point. Since study abroad wasn’t an option, other people were doing research on campus labs, internships, and the like during the summer months. Taking classes that summer was, for me, like making a deposit.
In the upcoming spring semester, I’m cashing out.
After applying to internships throughout the semester, I got an offer on the first day of Reading Week to be a congressional intern in the office of U.S. Representative Mary Peltola. I accepted within a day or two. Representative Peltola, for those who don’t know, is about to begin her first full term in office, and is the first new U.S. representative for Alaska in the House since Don Young took office way back in 1973. She ran a positive campaign centered on Alaskan values (Fish, Family, Freedom) and has already begun to do good work for Alaska. And, since she’s new, I expect that the energy in her office is electifying right now.
Representative Peltola’s official Twitter account.
A career in public policy has been in the back of my mind for some time, so this will be a great opportunity to see if the work and I are a good fit for each other.
My internship offer email!
I’ll also have a chance to explore D.C. – because it’s 3000 miles away from home, my family has never made the trek. I’ve heard all the museums are free, so I’ll be exploring those on the weekends. There’s also a nearby rock climbing gym in Arlington, and I’m thinking about splurging on a membership to go regularly. (After a friend on the Yale Climbing Team took me to City Climb Gym in New Haven this semester, I left with torn skin on my fingers and a real appreciation for how challenging and strategic rock climbing is.) More domestically, I want to learn how to bake my own bread while I’m living in an apartment. There will be no shortage of things to do.
And, of course, I’ll be making my way back to New Haven every month or so to keep in touch with my friends on-campus. It’s only a six hour train ride away.
